1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a modular system for enabling a distribution of fluids, and more particularly to a system that enables a distribution of gases in a semiconductor manufacturing environment.
2. Description of Related Art
Fluid transfer panels are used to control the flow of fluids and fluid mixtures in many manufacturing processes and machinery. In the area of semiconductor manufacturing, wafer fabrication facilities are commonly organized to include areas in which chemical vapor deposition, plasma deposition, plasma etching, sputtering and the like are carried out. In order to carry out these processes, it is necessary for the tools and machines that are used for the processes to be provided with a precise amount of processing gases to enable the fabrication steps. In a typical wafer processing facility, inert and reactant gases are stored in tanks which may be located a distance from the wafer processing area and are connected via piping or conduit ultimately to a gas panel. The gas panel has the purpose of delivering precisely metered amounts of pure inert or reactant gas. A typical gas panel includes a plurality of gas paths having connected therein literally hundreds of components, such as valves, filters, flow regulators, pressure regulators, pressure transducers, and connections, connected together by tens (or hundreds) of feet of tubing. Gas panels are designed to provide desired functions, such as gas transport, mixing and purging, by uniquely configuring the various individual components.
The gas panel occupies a relatively large amount of space, as each of the components are plumbed into the gas panel, either through welding tubing to the devices or combinations of welds and connectors.
Gas panels are difficult to manufacture and hence expensive. Welds are relatively expensive to make in such systems as they must take place in an inert atmosphere. The surfaces of the gas handling system that contact gas must be made as smooth and nonreactive as possible in order to reduce the number of sites where contaminants may tend to deposit in the tube, leading to the formation of particulates or dust which could contaminate the wafers being processed.
Additional problems with the conventional gas panels relate to the fact that such a welded system of the type currently used today requires a significant amount of space between each of the components so that during servicing the connections can be accessed and opened. In addition, in order to remove a section or portion of a contemporary gas panel, many of the supports of the surrounding parts must be loosened so that the hardware can be spread out to allow removal of the item under consideration.